UPDATED November, 2009.
The Koi Pond in The Woodlands is now open. After a rather drawn out process, the fish garden officially opened on November 13, 2009. The Koi Garden (as it is also known) features of 30 different varieties of Japanese Carp. Seems to me that ‘Carp’ were always considered to be ‘trash fish’. While the US family of carp are small, plentiful and easy to catch, you wouldn’t want to take the time to clean and eat them so we always threw them back when we were lake fishing. Carp, (aka trash fish), like gold fish, can live on most anything but the Koi get special food and visitors are asked to not feed the fish. The Japanese Carp however, are larger, with different breeds having colorful skins are considered to be quite special and held in high regard. The Waterway Koi Garden features a private water system with high quality filtration systems to keep the water clean so the fish can prosper as well as be seen. Something that few people know is that the ‘garden’ was originally designated as The Waterway Island Garden but right around late spring of 2008, the sign (seen here) was removed and the construction up to that point stalled before becoming the ‘the koi garden’. An earlier news release in the summer of 2007 indicates plans for the koi garden.

The Koi Pond along the Woodlands Waterway is located along the south side of the waterway between Six Pines Drive and Waterway Avenue. Nearby parking is available at 18 Waterway Avenue as well as some public parking along the drive that runs through the Waterway Court Town homes. Gaining access to it requires pedestrians to walk up to waterway avenue, cross over to the south and then head west. While we are not sure who or what group chose to put the koi garden in this particular location, I do surmise that it was not a part of the master plan. Parking and access to the koi garden is not exactly pedestrian friendly. Most, if not all of the other waterway attractions are located along the northern side of the waterway which is where most all of the pedestrian traffic flows (for obvious reasons). The two sides of the waterway appear to be split between primarily commercial on the north bank and a mix of residential / leisure along the south bank. This comparison isn’t completely accurate however because at the eastern end of south bank along that east-west corridor are some commercial buildings and a parking garage or two. So why would they put such an attraction which one would think is to be considered a major gathering spot for residents and visitors alike in such a location? And don’t get me started on the 8 foot concrete walls surrounding the koi garden… You can’t even see the garden area unless you can get past the lockable gate. I mean really, who did this.. Really!?

The Woodlands Texas is a 28,000-acre master-planned community located 27 miles north of downtown Houston. It is a project of The Woodlands Development Company, a Morgan Stanley and General Growth Properties, Inc. limited partnership. The specific address of the Koi Garden is #5 Waterway Court, The Woodlands, Texas 77380

The Woodlands Blog

The Woodlands Events Blog website is not an official website of THE WOODLANDS® development or The Woodlands Township and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by THE WOODLANDS® development or The Woodlands Land Development Company, L.P. THE WOODLANDS is a registered trademark of The Woodlands Land Development Company, L.P.